


little wonders

by primrosee



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Bible Camp, Chubby John, First Kiss, First Love, First Time, Kinda, Love at First Sight, M/M, Short John, Summer Camp, Underage Drinking, Underage Sex, buff jade, hick dave, it revolves around The Boys(tm), mentioned abusive relationship, mentioned child abuse, most of the characters are just mentions tbh, should be all, tall dave, tall jade
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-16
Updated: 2017-09-16
Packaged: 2018-12-30 07:58:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12104220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/primrosee/pseuds/primrosee
Summary: “I like that thing you do with your tongue.What do you call it?Speaking?Yeah, I dig it.”





	little wonders

**Author's Note:**

> THIS IS SO LONG  
> an apology for not updating my other story for a long while...it can be hard to get inspiration, you know?  
> so hope y'all enjoy this!!
> 
> [ the title is a reference to the song "little wonders" by rob thomas  
> i listened to "could have been me" by the struts while i wrote this  
> and the quote in the summary box is from egghead, a book of poetry by bo burnham. ]

By the time you’re sixteen, you’re pretty much done with summer camp.

Your Bro, on the other hand, is not. Not because he cares about you having fun or anything loving and parental like that, but because if he sends you to some camp in the middle of fucking nowhere, you’re off of his hands and into someone else’s for three months. Which, in turn, effectively minimizes the amount of time he spends with you even more—as if he spent much time with you to begin with, anyway. The most you get from him is a brief wave, and otherwise, you’re around him because he’s smacking the shit out of you. You’re not even sure he knows your name, anymore.

You guess you wouldn’t mind going to summer camp as much if the camp he sent you to every year was _Camp Smiles_ , a stupid church camp full of uptight adults and prim and polished kids who are totally brainwashed by the thought that the most important part of life is worshipping God. You’re cool with religion and all, but the kids at this camp are religious freaks. They pray before they eat, before they go to bed, and pretty much whenever the hell they think the Lord is “calling them.” It’s pretty damn freaky.

This year, they stick you in cabin 123, which is the cabin that’s literally a mile away from the main parts of the camp, like the mess hall and lake. It’s fucking ridiculous. The camp director, Miss.Peixes, smiles at you with her full-toothed grin and says, “Welcome back, David.” You cringe at the name, but give her a nod in return. Not saying hello back, just acknowledging the fact that she talked to you. And unlike most of the counselors, she just smiles in return. You always liked Miss.Peixes—you think her real name’s Feferi, but whatever—because she was hella rad. She even caught you drinking one year and didn’t say shit to anyone about it.

Your cabin is one of the emptiest ones. Probably since it’s, you know, on the other fucking side of the camp entirely. Your bunkmates are all guys and, for some reason, one girl. You end up with a bottom bunk since you got there last. The kids don’t even give you a glance as you start unpacking and settling down.

Once you have your shit sorted, you take a seat on one of the beanbag chairs in the corner of the room and people-watch, even though you don’t have many people to watch. This cabin is the best cabin to be in, despite its significant distance from anything of worth. There are six people in total in your cabin, so there are four bunk beds. One against one wall, one against the other, one of the head at the two others, and one at the bottom of the two others. Kind of like a square, except there’s room in between them to walk.

The bunk across from where you’re sitting is occupied on the top by some ginger kid with a shitton of freckles (much like your own) who looks absolutely livid for no goddamned reason, and on the bottom by a black-haired kid with the weirdest fucking haircut ever, a pair of 3-D glasses, and a gameboy—which, you should note, is contraband. He must be a fucking wizard.

The middle, or rather, head bunk, is occupied on the top by a brown haired guy with some weird ass clown facepaint and a dead-eyed look, like he just took a hit of the best fucking weed of his life. On the bottom, there’s a nervous looking kid with a brown mohawk and tan skin. There’s a wheelchair next to him, so you can only assume he’s a paraplegic or something.

The bunk against the other wall, pretty much right by your head, is occupied by two people, of course, but neither one is on the top or the bottom. In fact, they’re both sitting on the bottom together. You guess they’re siblings or something, because they both have the same buckteeth and braces (colored blue and green, respectively), pitch black hair, and wide smiles. The main difference is their eyes—one of them has blue eyes, the other has green. And it seems that the chick, who is the green eyed one, is more muscled, and the guy is kinda chubby.

Well, that and the fact that the green-eyed one has death in her eyes. You check off in your mind that you shouldn’t fuck with her or the blue-eyed kid. Even though he’s kind of cute.

All that leaves is your bunk, at the opposite end of the head bunk. You got stuck with the bottom like a chump. On the top, though, there’s a kid with blonde hair that has a purple streak through it, and for some reason, he’s wearing a scarf. In summer. In summer, while it’s like ninety fucking degrees outside. What a lunatic.

“Hey!” The green-eyed chick yells suddenly, and you nearly fall out of the beanbag. “Why don’t we do roll-call, so everyone can get to know each other? My name is Jade!”

No one follows, so you take sympathy on her and say, “I’m Dave.”

She grins at you widely, giving you a double-thumbs up. What a nerd. With a small, exasperated groan, the kid in your bunk says, “My name is Eridan.” which, in turn, sparks everyone else to introduce themselves.

Ginger kid is named Karkat, 3-D glasses dude is named Sollux, stoner is named Gamzee, cripple is named Tavros, and the kid in the bunk with Jade (who’s looking cuter and cuter as the minutes pass) is named John. “Great!” Jade says once you’ve all said your names. “Now that we know each other, why don’t we find something to do together to pass the time?”

“No thanks,” Sollux says. You notice that he has a pretty prevalent lisp.

Jade turns her icy glare on him. “Are you sure?”

He, of course, relents. What a pussy. “Just joking. What are we gonna do?”

Jade taps her nose while she’s thinking. John giggles at this, which makes you smile, for some reason. God, are you going soft for some pale chubby kid with braces? “Spin the bottle?”

“Isn’t this a bible camp?” Karkat asks. “Seems kinda counterproductive.”

She shrugs her shoulders and starts digging around in her bag, for a bottle, you’d presume. “Who fucking cares, honestly. After you come here enough, it just kinda becomes another camp. The most churchy thing about it is that stupid bible study we have to go to every morning, and I usually skip it. So, who’s up for spin the bottle?”

Everyone shrugs. You like this cabin—why haven’t they put you with all of these people before? You don’t give two shits about camp, either. You slide off of the beanbag chair and onto the floor while everyone starts gathering in a circle and Jade puts the bottle in the center of you all, adjusting it until she looks satisfied and sits back on her heels. “Alright! Dave gets to go first, since he introduced himself first after I started the naming thing.”

You give her the same double thumbs-up she gave you before, and she grins. You lean forward and spin the bottle, living on a prayer that it lands on John. You just met the kid and you’re already going soft for him. It’s super gross and really gay, but you just can’t help it. You are the gayest homosexual ever—it is you. To your disdain, the bottle lands on Jade. She gives a half-smile and leans in to give you a quick peck. You get chides that you should have a real kiss, but Jade rolls her eyes and waves them off.

That was the kiss of a lesbian and you know it. Your half-sister, Rose, comes to visit for every holiday and whenever the hell she sees fit, and that’s exactly how she kisses you. It’s kind of a thing in your family to do kisses, usually on the cheek, but it really depends. Any way she kisses you is the kiss of a lesbian, and you can tell.

Karkat spins next, and you lean close to Jade and whisper to her, “You’re a lesbian, ain’t you?”

She lets out a loud cackle, almost sounding like a howl, and turns to give you a wink. Luckily you’re good at reading lips, so when she mouths, _I eat pussy for breakfast,_ you understand it and give a laugh of your own. “I know someone,” you whisper back.

* * *

 

The next morning, you’re forced by a grumpy counselor to get up at seven a.m so you can start the trek to the mess hall. Everyone groans in return but gets up anyway, heading to one of the bathrooms to change into their day clothes. Once you’re all dressed but not less pissy about being woken up so early, the counselor leads you on the walk into camp, through a forested area with poison ivy pretty much everywhere and bugs of all shapes and sizes. Jade seems to love them. John, not so much. He huddles against her side like a scared kid, and she laughs and tells him that bugs are harmless.

You notice that John is a really short dude, and that Jade is a really tall chick. She has to be at least six feet, because she looks to be about your height, if not a little shorter. John, on the other hand, looks to only be about four foot nine. When he sees you looking at him, he smiles, and you look away quickly, like you’re stealthy or some shit.

Once you’ve made it to the mess hall, you’re all sweaty and tired, and the day hasn’t even fucking started yet. You all scarf down breakfast, and then your counselor—a guy named Equius, who doesn’t seem overly excited about camp activities (maybe because he’s sweating like a pig)—introduces himself as your counselor and hands out schedules of how all of your days will go. Monday-Thursday all have planned activities, starting with bible study. Weekends are free days. Woo-hoo for weekends, you guess.

Bible study is boring. Some kids are attentive and wide awake, but everyone from your cabin is either dozing, already asleep, or spacing out. John is sitting next to you, which you account to your Strider luck. He sees you staring again, rips a page out of his notebook, and smiles. He scribbles something down quickly and shoves the note in your direction.

why do you keep staring? it reads.

You dig through your bookbag for a pen and write your reply. After shaking the pen like a shake-weight for a few minutes to get the ink to work, of course.

maybe i think youre pretty

You slide the note back to him, knowing you’re about to be engaged in a note-based conversation.

oh yes, i am so sure, dave, because my fat rolls are attractive.

you dont know my fetishes

He cracks a smile, unveiling his teeth to you, which are an ungodly mess of wires, blue metal, and displaced teeth.

and i don’t think i’d like to. where are you from?

good ol texas of course, couldnt you tell by the accent

where are you from

seattle! is it really always hot in texas?

i dunno, is it always rainy in seattle

touche, dave. touche.

As you get ready to write something back, the leader of the bible study announces that study is over for the day. Some kids linger and ask more questions—about what, you’ll never know—but your little posse is up and out of their seats in no time. Jade links her arm with John’s, and you try to fade behind them, but before you can start John says, “Don’t be a stranger, Dave! I have two arms. Walk with us!”

He offers his arm out to you, and with little hesitation (you have to at least seem a little cool) you link your arm with his. After all, how could you say no to that metal-mouthed smile?

The rest of the day goes by like a breeze. During dinner, Jade makes sure that she snags the seat next to you, effectively putting her between you and John. She grabs a notebook from her bag, checks to see if John is distracted with something else, and starts writing.

what are your intentions with my baby brother??? you read when she slides the paper to you.

nothing dude, seriously

She glares.

dont lie to me!! i can read that youre gay just like you could read that i am! do you have malicious intent with my brother?

listen yo i can tell youre like super protective and also very buff

you could probably kick my ass in two seconds with no trouble so trust me when i say im not here to deflower your brother or anything

i just think hes cute and hes being nice to me which i sure as hell aint used to it

dont get the same respect in texas

hmm...

i guess i believe you!!

but please be careful with him, ok? he just came out not too long ago and got out of a pretty abusive relationship with a pretty awful girl

wait hes gay

hehe!

dont be cruel jade

hes bi, actually!!! just dont hurt him or you will suffer, i promise :)

i believe you

thanks for your word i guess

As you slide the note back to her, the bell in the mess hall rings, signalling that dinner is over and it’s time to head to the bonfire—or, back to your cabin, whichever you prefer. You choose the cabin, as does most of your group, aside from Gamzee and Tavros. Weird. Your counselor lets you go off on your own path back to your cabin because he wants to join the bonfire, so your little group starts their mile-long walk into the woods.

* * *

 

When you make it back to your cabin, it’s still pretty light outside. You all head back in, shut and lock the door, and sit down in a circle together—like you’re all meant to sit like that. “Wanna play never have I ever?” Jade suggests.

“Don’t you need alcohol for that to work?” Sollux asks.

She winks and reaches for her bag, digging around for a few minutes before she finally pulls out a pack of cups and a bottle of a clear liquid—which you can only assume to be tequila, because it sure as hell isn’t water. John gasps. “Jade! Where’d you get that?”

She shrugs. “Dad’s alcohol cabinet. He doesn’t lock it, you know. You don’t have to play if you don’t want to, John.”

“Oh, I want to play. Let’s go!”

After Jade fills the cups to the brim with tequila, she hands one out to each of you and crosses her legs, Indian-style. “Since I brought the contraband, I’ll go first. Never have I ever...been in a relationship with the opposite sex!”

Karkat, Eridan, Sollux, and John all take a drink. They also all make hilarious fucking faces, and you aren’t surprised—you’ve had tequila before, when you stole it from your Bro’s own alcohol cabinet, and it was awful. Not as bad as vodka, but not much better. The game keeps going from there, and by the near-end, you’ve all drained your cups mostly to the bottom. Jade seems to be a functional drunk, as do Karkat and Sollux. Eridan, on the other hand, is falling asleep where he sits, and John has a blush high on his cheeks and a broad smile.

“Think we should sleep,” Jade says, yawning. She drags herself up from the floor like she’s made of liquid, and everyone else but Eridan follows, since he’s already passed out in a heap on the floor. Jade makes sure the tequila bottle is hidden before climbing onto the top bunk. John plops onto his bunk face down, and you watch him while he struggles to get in a comfortable position.

Before he shuts his eyes to fall asleep, he looks right at you and says, “I know yer’ starin’, Dave. Stoppit.” He says, slurring his words.

You roll your eyes beneath your shades. “Me? Never. Go to sleep, kid.”

* * *

 

The next few days at camp are, well—uneventful. In fact, everything is pretty damn uneventful, until the first month of camp is finished and you’re heading into the second, July. Everything is significantly stickier than it was prior to that and the bugs are a lot more populous. That’s not why the beginning of the second month is more eventful, though. No—that’s a totally different reason.

Namely because, one morning during bible study and your little note-passing ritual with John, he writes to you, meet me in the bathroom.

In school, usually, teachers won’t let two people to go to the bathroom at once. But this is summer camp, bible camp, to be exact, so both you and John are excused from the classroom together. As soon as you step foot in the bathroom, he has his arms wrapped around you and his face buried in your chest. No tears, which is surprising enough. “You okay?”

“Nope,” he says, and then he’s kissing you. You’re pretty damn shocked, mainly because this is the first time you’ve kissed someone in a pretty long time—especially a kiss that’s as awful as this one. His braces clip your upper lip, his glasses clank against yours noisily, and the entire thing is just really uncomfortable. He pulls back first. “Sorry, I’m sorry. Probably shouldn’t have done that. I’m an awful kisser and you’re probably not gay and—ugh. I’m fucking up again.”

“Hey, chill,” you say, soothing your hand over his shoulder. “You’re alright, man. I’m gayer than a unicorn riding a rainbow, but you’re right on one thing—you’re a terrible kisser. How about we let me lead it this time. You didn’t fuck up, I promise you that much.”

You go in for the kiss this time, bending down so your height is at least a little bit closer to his, but not much. You initiate the kiss this time, taking it a lot slower than it was before, mainly to take care that his braces don’t make your gums or mouth bleed and your glasses don’t click together uncomfortably. He still pulls back first, breathing a little erratic. “That was a lot better. Am I that shitty of a kisser?”

You laugh, nodding. “For sure.”

He smiles and punches you in the arm.

* * *

 

From that period on, you and John start dating. He doesn’t ask you directly to date him, but he does slide it into one of your notes, asking if you’re boyfriends now since you kissed and all. You nod in return, and he holds your hand beneath your desks.

You try to make the most of the summer, since you know when it’s over, he’ll go back to Seattle and you’ll go back to Texas, and then you’ll be miles away from each other. You hold his hand in the mess hall underneath the tables, sign off the notes you pass to him with shitty looking hearts that look even worse in your atrocious handwriting, kiss him in places where no one can see, and sneak into his bunk at night once everyone has fallen asleep—taking care that you’re back to your bunk by the morning.

Two days before the final day of camp, you’re smushed against him in the bottom bunk of the incredibly small bunk beds, your arms wound tightly around him and his head against your chest. “Your heart is beating really hard,” he observes in a whisper. “It sounds unhealthy.”

“That’s what you do to me,” you say, automatically, even though it sounds incredibly cheesy once you’ve said it and John giggles quietly. “That sounded fucking awful, didn’t it.”

He giggles harder. “No, not really. I mean, yeah really, but it was also pretty sweet.”

You punch him lightly in the arm and he reciprocates.

“Hey, since we’re going back home in two days—and it’ll be long distance and stuff even though I know we’ll be in touch and all—do you think we could, uh. Do _it._ The thing.”

“Do you mean sex?” You ask, laughing quietly.

He nods, hiding his face in your chest. “Yes! You know that’s what I mean, you didn’t need to make me say it!”

“I mean, that’s kind of a big deal, dude.”

You feel him nod. “I know, but I want to, um. I want you to be my first.”

“I’m honored to deflower you, John,” you say back. He hits you again. “No, but seriously. We can do—we can have, sex. Tomorrow night, meet me in Cabin 413.”

Cabin 413 is a counselor’s cabin that’s almost a two mile walk from your cabin—which is, of course, the reason that it’s always deserted. He nods, softly, and says, “Goodnight, Dave.”

You nod, even though he can’t see you. “Yeah. Night.”

* * *

 

John is nervous and fidgety for the entire day. On the last activity of the day, he fakes a stomach ache and gets sent back to your cabin by himself, since all of the counselors are too busy working with the kids. It’s for that exact reason that not long after that, you’re ducking out of the place and absconding back to the cabin. You two planned to sneak out at night—him meeting you there just wouldn’t work—so you aren’t sure why he’s leaving.

You don’t catch up to him, which is pretty surprising. When you make it back to the cabin, you figure out that it was because he ran back to the cabin. He’s laying with his back pressed against the wall and his eyes closed. “You good?” You ask, and he jumps.

“Yeah, I’m just nervous, I guess.”

“‘Bout what? You’re the one who asked me to do the do with you.”

He laughs and sticks his tongue out. “I know! But I’m sure Jade told you about my last relationship and that I just came out, and it’s very stressful, okay?”

“We don’t have to,” you offer, even though you really fucking want to.

“I want to,” he says, firmly. “I just need a break.”

You nod and salute him. “Eye eye, Captain.”

He grins and closes his eyes.

* * *

 

It’s pitch black when you start your trek to Cabin 413, so you sneak out the dimmest flashlight you can find and keep John so close to you during the walk that it’s almost like you’re fused together. When you finally make it to the cabin, you walk up to the door and shove it open, shutting and locking it behind you and John. It’s pretty damn nice, for a deserted cabin. You flick the light switch on and find that there’s a king sized bed in the middle of the room and some pretty damn nice amenities.

“Counselors live it up,” you find yourself saying.

John nods. “Seems so. So do you...have the...stuff?”

“Yeah, and you best love me hard because it was hard to find,” you say, even though it wasn’t—your Bro, despite being so distant in your life that he’s nearly a stranger, still knows you’re a teenager. When you weren’t looking, he snuck a pack of condoms and a bottle of lube into your bag. You noticed them the first night, but chose to keep them hidden. It’s not like you thought you were actually going to have sex.

“I’m going to undress. Turn away.”

“Dude, what? We’re about to have sex.”

“Just do it, you weenie!”

“Fine, fine.” You say, turning away from John and closing your eyes. He calls your name when he’s done, and when you turn back, he’s curled onto the bed in nothing but—well, nothing. He’s stark naked. He blushes when he sees you looking at him, says, “What are you looking at, douche knob?” and you smile.

“A beautiful boy,” you reply, winking. Then you start undressing, too.

After what feels like hours of kissing and cuddling—you never knew sex would be like pulling teeth—John finally unfurls himself from the tiny ball he’s in and lets you touch him more. You rub your hands softly around his stomach, and after a short time, he says, “Just do something already!”

You laugh, pop the bottle of lube open, and spread it on your fingers. You start with one finger and up the ranks until you have three fingers in him and he’s a moaning mess, fingers wrapped in your hair, legs taut and toes curled. “Can you just like, do something, before I finish already? Jeez, you’re a slowpoke,” he manages to say, even through soft moans and labored breaths.

You flick him in the head with your clean fingers and pop the lube open again, making sure you’re slippery enough to not hurt him. You go to roll the condom over yourself, but he offers, making quite the show of it. Smoothing it down and jerking you a few times, making your toes curl and breath seize up. He grins. “Whatever. Lay on your back.”

He does just so. You bend his legs up and throw them over your shoulders, surprised at how flexible he is. You slide into him slowly, every inch agonizing. He’s tight, you’re a virgin. It’s hard. Once you’re fully seated, you stay still until he finally tells you to to move, already. You do as he says, and soon, you have a steady pace set. He’s moaning out profanities, tugging on your hair, and kissing you—open, sloppy, and wet. You can tell he’s close to the end when he tightens even more and nests his hands in your hair, near-shouting, “Dave, please, please, please, _please_ —” and when he finishes, he lets out a high squeak that slightly resembles your name, going entirely limp.

“You want me to stop?” You ask, carefully.

“No,” he mumbles, tiredly. “Want you to finish, too.”

So, you keep going. He arches his back and responds readily to the extra stimulus, and as you finish, he does a second time. You lay your head on his chest once you’re done, and he strokes his hands through your hair and sings a soft tune you’ve heard somewhere before, but you can’t quite remember where. You pull out once you gain some of your coherency back, tossing the condom into the trash can by the bedside.

You lay back down after you wipe John and yourself down. He’s so much shorter than you, but you fold yourself up and tuck your head under his neck. He combs gently through your hair, humming quietly to himself. “Don’t take this the wrong way, dude, but I think I love you.”

He giggles, and it is, as always, the most musical thing you’ve ever had the pleasure of hearing. “I love you, too.”

And really, that’s all you need.

* * *

 

The next day, camp is over. The leaves on the trees in the forest are starting to turn orange already, and you get a firm chastising from Miss.Pexies about leaving the cabins. You can tell by her eyes that she’s not actually mad, and once the counselors are gone and no one else is around for show, she winks and says, “I was a teenager once, too.”

At the airport, you say goodbye to all of your new friends, making sure you’ve all exchanged numbers and other contact info. Jade stands behind John in the airport while he stands in front of you, head hung. “I’m going to miss you,” he says, sniffling. “Keep in touch.”

You smile. “You know I will,” you respond. “I’m going to start every morning by telling you I love you, and end every night the same way.”

He finally looks up. His eyes are puffy and red from crying, but he’s still the most beautiful person you’ve ever laid eyes on. “You’re such a sap, Dave. I love you.”

You nod, smile, and pull him in for a kiss. Against his lips, you mutter, “I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> welcome back to another edition of "watch as an asexual lesbian tries and fails to write nsfw involving two gay men"  
> i hope i didn't miss any tags, but if i did, feel free to tell me!  
> thanks for reading!!!!! <3
> 
> the cabin numbers were references, btw  
> cabin 123: 12/3, aka dave's birthday  
> cabin 413: obviously 4/13, we all know this one ;)


End file.
